Caregiver Notes produces a call from Uncle Bill

If you’re a regular reader of Caregiver Notes, you’ll recall a few weeks back, a comment appeared on this blog from an Ian Muise, my cousin Kenny’s son, who reported he has spent the past few years taking care of my Uncle Bill, my father Robert’s older brother who we had lost track of. Well, this past Sunday, the brothers were reunited on the telephone.

Neither my father nor I had seen Uncle Bill since about 1984-85 when Pops lived near him in Florida. After my father moved back north, communication was infrequent, and my father last talked to Uncle Bill last in 2002 to report on a trip to Nova Scotia, which is where my father’s side of the family comes from and where other branches of the family still live. Then a couple of years ago, my father tried to call Bill again and found the telephone number he had for Uncle Bill was no longer in service.

After I heard from Ian in mid-February, he and I communicated, and a date was set to put the brothers in touch. Ian said Uncle Bill’s short-term memory was not good, and he had some confusion as the result of an apparent stroke that showed up on a CAT scan. But Ian said Uncle Bill, who will soon be 93, remembered his early life experiences better and might enjoy reminiscing with my 89-year-old father about the old family (there were 10 Muise siblings back then â€“ my father and Bill are the surviving family members).

By prearrangement, I was visiting my father on Sunday when Ian called from nursing home where Uncle Bill lives. He put Bill on and the two brothers talked for a while, mostly catching up on how the other is doing now. At one point, Uncle Bill said something that made my father laugh hard. After a while, I got on with Uncle Bill too, and he reassured me that he sleeps well and eats well and at his age that was enough (Uncle Bill always did speak brusquely and to the point). I also spoke to Ian and reviewed what family history I had and thanked him again for making contact.

The brothers didn’t get too deep into reminiscing on this call, but they’re back in touch. And I am sure they will speak again. I guess it is never too late to reach out to family.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Muise

Jeff is a HealthTalk employee and a caregiver for his 90-year-old father, Robert in Woodstock, in New York’s Catskill Mountain region. He and his wife Deborah have two grown daughters, Amanda, and Molly. Jeff...read more